Log unloader



W. C. STARR LOG UNLOADER Deco 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed August 22. 1925 Dec. 29 1925 1,567,473

W. C. STARR LOG UNLOADER Filed August 22, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

, unirse s VJYATTC. STARR, `053' LAKE WALES, FLORIDA.

LOG- UNLOADER.

Application filed August 22, '1925. Serial No. 51,781.

To 1f/ZZ whom tangy cancelar.'

'Be it known' that 'L livreur C. Swann, a citizen of the Tilnited States, residing at Lake '7l/Vales, in' the county of Polk and State of Florida, ha 7e inventerl a new and useful LogUnloader, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to an unloading device especially ldesigned. for unloading logs from-cars which carry the logs from the lumber camps to the usual log slip.

.A n important object of the invention is the yprovision Vof aqlog skid including pivotally supported arms adapted to auton'iati- `callyswing downwardly when they are beingpassedunder logs supported on a car, the arms being supported in such a way that they will automatically move to their active positions, behind'the logs to move the logs onto the skid rail.

VAnother objectofthe invention is to provide rigidlinks pivotaflly supported and coniected'iwith thelogengaging arms in such .away fthatthe links will .fold down out of the ,way yof .the arms `when the arms are moved totheir inactive positions.

Vlith the foregoing. and other objects `in .view which .will .appear as the .description proceed-s, Athe invention resides inthe combination andarrangement of parts and in 'the details .of construction .hereinafter `described and claimed, it being `understood that changes in therprecise embodimentof therinvention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is an elevational view disclosing a 'logging skid or log unloader constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through the skid.

Figure 3 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 4 is a plan view of one of the log engaging arm carriages.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view thereof.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6 6 of Figure et.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device includes a skid supporting frame indicated generally by the reference character 5 which. supports the skid rails 6 over which the logs are moved on their passage to the log slip indicated at 7, and which. is posif tioned at one end the nframe 5, the log slip being of the usual and well known construction.

Positionedbetween the 'ails6 ofthe skidway areguideways T in which the skidding members 8 move, the skiddingmember 8 including spaced bars 9 arranged at their ends, between which the log engaging arms l() are pivotally supported. Shafts llconnect thearms 9 atlthe respective ends of the slzidding member and act `as supports for the arms `l0.as clearly shown by Figures el: and 5 of the drawings,therebeing provided coiled springs l2 coiled around the shafts 1l vand havingtheirintermediate portions bean ing against the arms l0 to normally urge the arms -to thelimit of their upwardmovements.

Associated with `each shaft ll is a a shaft .13 that provides a support 'for the link 14C at one end of the sljiidding membeialthe links ll being supplied with elongated openings 15 that receive the pins 16 that extend laterally from thearms l0, the construction being such that when the arms l0 are moved downwardly to their inactive positions, the links l5 `will fall to positions below the upper edges of the arms 9 so that they will not 1gbstruct the movement of the skidding memers.

vPositioned at the` ends of the skidding membersand supportedbetween them-ms 9 are rollers 17 that support the weight of the A: skidding `members .and :reduce friction Ybetween the skidding members and `the guideways in which they move to the minimum.

The skidding members 8 are relatively long and as illustrated by Figure l of the drawings, are of lengths so that when a skidding member has been moved so that the log engaging arm of one end thereof contacts with logs arranged on a car which has been moved to one end of the frame 5, the log engaging arm at the opposite end of the skidding member will engage the logs which have been moved to a position on the skidways by a previous movement of the skidding member to cause the logs to be moved to the discharge end of the skidway, or t-o a position adjacent to the log slip where they may be readily moved onto t-he log slip.

The ,car which. carries the logs from the lumber cam-p is of the usual construction and includes .Car bunks 18 between. which Eli the skidding members move, the car bunks acting to support the logsv in spaced relation with the upper surface of the car so that the skidding members may be readily moved thereunder.

Under each skidding member are spaced flanges 19 between which the pulleys 2O and 2l are mounted, the pulley 20-acting as a means whereby the flexible member 22 maybe connected to the skidding member,

while the pulley 21 acts as a means whereby the opposite end of the flexible member may be connected to the skidding member, the iiexible members being wound on the drums 23 supported on the shaft 24 which is rotated by means of the gear 25 meshing with the pinion 26 that in turn is mounted on shaft 27 and rotated by gears 28 and 29 of the power device. Thus it will be seen that when the flexible members are wound on the drums 23 in one direction, the skid ding members will be moved outwardlyv or to positions as illustrated by Figure l of the drawings, but when the flexible members 22 are wound in the opposite directions the skidding members are moved in the reverse direction forcing the logs over the skidway. kThe flexible members 22 operate over pulleysV 30 and 31 to reduce friction and permit the skidding members to be moved with the minimum amount of power.

In the use of the device, a car such as indicated by the drawings and which has been loaded, is moved to a position adjacent to one end of the skidway supporting frame. The skidding members lare now moved to the limits of their outward movements, whereby the log engaging arms 10 automatically move to their active positions or to positions to engage the logs piled on the car. The drums are now reversed and the skid members are moved in the reverse dii rection, with the result that the arms force the logs over the skidways leaving a pile of logs at a point substantially intermediate the skidways.

When the skidding members are moved again to a position to engage the logs on a car which has been moved to a position adjacent to the skidway frame 5, it will be obvious that the engaging arms at the forward ends of the skidding members will engage the logs which have been deposited intermediate the ends of the skidways by the first movement of the skidding members .r

to the end that when the skidding members are moved to remove logs from the car, the arms at the forward ends of the skidding members will move the logs engaged thereby to a position adjacent to the log slip where they may be readily slid onto the log slip and carried to the mill.

I claim:

l. In a log unloading device, a skidway, skidding members movable longitudinally of the skidway, said skidding members including spaced arms arranged at the ends thereof, rollers mounted between the arms, pivoted log engaging members carried by the spaced arms, and means for moving the skidding members.

2. In a log unloading device, a skidway, guideways mounted on the skidway, skidding members movable longitudinally of the skidway and operating within the guideways, each skidding member includ ing spaced arms shafts mounted between the arms, log engaging bars mounted on the shaft, spring members 'adapted to engage thc bars to move the bars to their active posit-ions, pivoted link members engaging the bars and adapted to restrict movement of the bars, and means for moving the skidding members over the skidway.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature. j

W. C. STARR. 

